Allen de Laval truly embraced a new life.
Now, he was terrifyingly strong!
The 1000th cycle, starting on Hell difficulty?
No, for Allen now, this was a dream start!
Experience?
The death-earned experience had long since maxed out!
Strength?
Although his hardware was a bit lacking, his software (brain) was definitely in overclock mode!
Wisdom?
Facing off directly with the mastermind behind humanity’s destruction, the “Observer,” counts as wisdom, right?
Spirit?
Having just survived a breakdown and revived at full health, his mentality was as steady as an old dog!
Allen was closer than ever before in any cycle to the “perfect ending” that doesn’t even exist in Starshine Serenade.
He finally understood why the “Observer” deigned to invite him for “tea.”
Allen de Laval finally qualified to sit at the table as a chess piece!
Opposite him stood the evil god and His pawns.
Behind him was the “Observer” who had been manipulating him as a mere piece.
This game of chess—
Allen not only had to defeat the evil god, but also overturn the “Observer’s” board!
Though the odds were slim, he was no longer fighting alone.
He had Marianne, the Old Man, the Butler, and more allies to come.
Allen was not truly God’s Messenger and could not suffer for all humanity.
His task was to be a prophet, not a babysitter!
Human suffering could only be borne collectively by all of humanity.
No matter how powerful the “Observer” was, could he withstand the wrath of all mankind?
Of course, he could!
But so what?
Humanity’s anthem was the anthem of courage; humanity’s greatness was the greatness of courage!
Humanity had been destroyed so many times, yet still stubbornly clung on to survival.
Why should Allen back down?
Just do it!
“Observer, have I shown you any respect? I’ll make you fly for showing off! Next time we meet, I’ll smear your face with the Star-Destroying Cannon!”
Allen had three goals this cycle:
First, survive.
To accomplish this, Allen needed strength enough to defeat Livia.
Second, secure humanity a breathing space.
To do this, he had to eliminate the “Invasive Creatures” the evil god unleashed into the human world and complete the mission given by the “Observer.”
Third, break free from the “Observer’s” control.
This task was the most arduous and unimaginably difficult.
For the first goal, Allen had a clear plan.
Individual strength was relatively easier to improve.
Although Allen lacked an Emblem, if he could obtain an Artifact that the Church used to suppress Emblems and combine it with his rich combat experience from dying and respawning, he might be able to defeat Livia.
For the second goal, Allen had some clues.
The “Invasive Creatures” the evil god unleashed into the human world were undoubtedly the cultists and their hidden pawns—the Emblems.
Cultists were not hard to eliminate; though individually powerful, they were ultimately rats hiding in the shadows.
The Church was their natural nemesis, so Allen could entrust the Order of Heretic Inquisition with this task.
Having been a high-ranking member of the Crimson Spiral Cult, Allen possessed a wealth of valuable intelligence.
The cultists likely didn’t even realize they had a traitor among them who wasn’t present.
As for eradicating the influence of the Emblems, Allen planned to strike at the root—
He intended to launch a grand revolution, completely destroying the old world and sweeping all the “Noble Swordsmen” bearing Emblems into the dustbin of history.
In this deeply feudal, brutally class-oppressed medieval society, rebellion sparks had never been lacking!
The mercenary band Allen had previously released was the seed for this revolution.
As for reviving the Laval House?
That was also to gather funds for the revolution!
To realize this goal, Allen needed years to lay the groundwork, and yet humanity had the least amount of time!
What would become of humanity?
Only God knew!
Allen could only choose to build up his strength while waiting for the right moment.
For the third goal, Allen was completely clueless.
He had to accomplish the first two before he was qualified to begin the third.
However, what he must do was clear.
He would push humanity’s transformation from medieval civilization to a galactic civilization, reigniting all lost technology in just over half a century, advancing to the interstellar age, building spaceships, and seeking Earth.
Compressing social revolutions that usually took centuries or even decades into half a century was an impossible task.
But for a transmigrator, everything was possible!
Allen had no cheat codes, but he was crazy enough!
If humanity dared to slack off, he would whip them into action!
The current calendar was called Anno Salutis (A.S.), starting from the year recorded in the Scripture when Saint Norra Emblem Academy’s first king, Camille Durand, led the survivors on an ark to the new world to found the Kingdom of Lorraine and the Church.
That was A.S. 1.
Starshine Serenade’s story began on September 1, 1082 A.S., and now it was June 23.
What did that mean?
In short:
In this cycle, humanity maintained a full millennium of feudal society despite inheriting the technological legacy of the previous civilization!
One thousand years!
If the prior civilization had already advanced to the pre-space age before the “Observer” destroyed it, then this thousand years was enough for humanity to become a galactic civilization!
According to the “Observer,” the physics constants in this universe should be consistent with the original world!
If relativity still held, humanity should have developed at least sub-light-speed engines in this thousand years, if not faster-than-light.
Even sub-light speed travel would have allowed colonization of nearby star systems!
Allen understood the “Observer’s” disappointment with humanity.
It was as if the “Observer” had built an observation station on humanity’s planet, passively intervening and happily collecting sociological data each month.
But after a thousand years, when the “Observer” came back to see how humanity had developed, he found—no progress at all.
Not even a +10 bonus!
Even Allen, as a human, couldn’t hold it in.
“You say history is a spiral upwards, I accept that, but then what’s with this straight line?
What the hell is humanity slacking off for?
Now look at this!
The hard-preserved technology has all been wiped out with one click by the ‘Observer.’ Happy now?
No playing on easy, but must choose Hell difficulty?”
Allen felt his blood pressure rise.
At this point, blaming humanity’s past stupidity was meaningless.
He had to quickly make up for humanity’s shortcomings and make up for the compulsory courses they had missed!
Allen’s three goals all pointed toward one power—
The Church!
The Church was Allen’s most crucial ally.
Time was tight and the tasks heavy; Allen had to act immediately!
Allen was 200% confident in his disguise as God’s Messenger.
No, calling it a disguise was wrong—he really was God’s Messenger now!
Not the original genuine article, but “Observer” was a god too, so rounding up, it counted!
However, before officially starting, Allen wanted to verify one guess.
“Marianne,” Allen looked at the sickly “little sister” type maid beside him, his tone warmer than before, “how’s your swordsmanship?”
“Never learned,” Marianne answered honestly.
“Assassination techniques?”
“They say I’m at a master level.”
“Great!”
Allen slapped his thigh, “Grab your favorite weapon; we’re going to the courtyard!”
As the Laval House servants rubbed their sleepy eyes and began their morning chores, they witnessed a moment worthy of family history.
The legendary Allen de Laval, who normally wouldn’t rise before midday and always caused trouble upon waking, now stood energetically in the mist-covered garden clearing!
He held a gleaming longsword in his hand!
The mist was like gauze, dew sparkling, birds chirping crisply, and the air was fresh.
This rainy morning was incredibly refreshing.
Allen took a deep breath, gripped the captured longsword, and said to Marianne, who was poised for battle:
“Ready, Marianne?”
“Yes, young master!”
“You attack, I defend, all out! Don’t be afraid to hurt me!”
“Understood!”
“Begin!”
Marianne trusted her young master unconditionally; whatever he said, she followed!
The moment Allen finished speaking, she moved like a ghost!
This wasn’t practice—it was real combat!
Marianne was truly a master-level assassin.
She never clashed head-on, her figure floating like a shadow, and her daggers flashed like cold light, striking at every gap in Allen’s defense!
Allen, who only defended without attacking, was under enormous pressure!
After several probing rounds, Marianne keenly caught a flaw and struck with her dagger like a serpent’s tongue aimed at Allen’s ribs!
Allen crossed his longsword, and with a sharp clang, precisely parried!
“Marianne, in actual combat, if you fail this sneak attack, you’re already dead,” Allen commented.
“…Understood, young master,” Marianne’s eyes hardened.
Allen was a bane to assassins.
This was a skill honed from dying countless times and surviving cultist ambushes!
At the same time, Allen was a weapons master.
His villain reincarnation style was not picky—he used whatever weapon he could get and naturally mastered all of them.
While defending, he also instructed Marianne on optimizing her dagger use.
Marianne’s physical strength was enhanced by pseudo Emblem power, equivalent to three elite soldiers, making Allen’s defense quite difficult.
“This stamina…if I can’t even beat Marianne, what hope do I have against Livia?”